A MAREEBA landowner on trial for manslaughter feared he could have been killed by rocks being thrown at his earthmoving machine by an angry neighbour.
Roy Bird is pleading not guilty to the manslaughter of Wayne Smith, 33, who died after being struck by an excavator bucket on January 23, 2007 in a heated dispute about where to bury a dead cow.
Mr Bird, 65, yesterday told the Supreme Court he heard a “loud explosion”, similar to a shotgun, and was showered with glass and dirt as he sat in the machine’s cabin.
He found a lump of dirt on the console but had no idea where it came from until he saw Mr Smith “picking up another handful of rocks”.
“I immediately thought this could be life-threatening,” Mr Bird said.
“If it done this to the back of the window, what would it have done if it had hit me in the face? I was very concerned for my wellbeing.”
Mr Bird said he decided to move the bucket between himself and Mr Smith to block the next rock.
“It looked like it was going straight towards my head. I automatically ducked to try to protect myself,” Mr Bird said.
When he looked up, he saw Mr Smith lying on the ground. He could not remember if his hand was still on the controls when he ducked the rock.
Mr Bird said he lowered the excavator bucket to the ground and immediately returned to his property without checking on Mr Smith, directing witness Jason Groves to call an ambulance.
Under cross-examination, Mr Bird said he knew the easiest access for the ambulance was through his property but did nothing to act on it.
“Did you consider sending any of your staff, or those working on your property, to go over to assist?” Crown prosecutor Peter Feeney asked.
“No,” Mr Bird said.
Mr Bird maintained yesterday he had not seen or felt the bucket impact with Mr Smith.
But the court heard Mr Bird had told police “I put the bucket around to protect myself. As I did, I f…ing whacked him … as far as I’m concerned, it was self-defence.”
Mr Bird told police he saw Mr Smith throw the first rock but insisted in court he had not seen the origin of the first rock.
Mr Bird said he was “in shock” and “very shaken” after the incident and could not recall what he told police.
The jury is expected to retire today.
